1963 fuelie clutch

[Richard W.]

Guys

Does GM still make the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing for a 63 high horse car? Does anyone have part numbers if they do?

I ordered a clutch from one of the corvette parts places and it looks nothing like the clutch that came out of the car.

Thanks for the help

Richie

[Joel T.]

Re: 1963 fuelie clutch

Richie;

I have a 1963 340HP car and have a clutch/pressure plate/bearing set from Paragon installed. It is a diaphragm design (versus the prior 3 finger design) and it works fine....

Joel

[Larry M.]

Re: 1963 fuelie clutch

Richard:

The C1 cars used a 3-finger Borg and Beck pressure plate. This may be what someone installed in your 1963 FI. I believe the original clutch was a diaphram unit.

Many folks use a diaphram unit from Luk, Sachs, AC Delco, or other manufacturer. I think the Paragon unit Joel mentioned is from Luk. I think the Luk model is their "Rep Set". It should work okay.

Hays sells a nice 3-finger Borg and Beck clutch that can be had in the "street" version or the "street/strip" version. I think the "street" model is plenty good. Just go to the Hays website and checkout. I don't, however, believe that the Hays clutch setup is still made in the USA. I think they went off-shore or to South America. Still a pretty good unit. It is what I would use for a B&B replacement.....if you want to go that way.

Hays also sells diaphram units that will work well. Also if you want to look at other aftermarket clutchs, many folks LOVE the CenterForce II.

Larry

[Joe L.]

Re: 1963 fuelie clutch

Richard:

The C1 cars used a 3-finger Borg and Beck pressure plate. This may be what someone installed in your 1963 FI. I believe the original clutch was a diaphram unit.

Larry

Larry-----


Yes, all C2 and C3 clutches were diaphragm spring units. 1962 was the last year for "3 finger" type clutches.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1963 fuelie clutch

Guys

Does GM still make the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing for a 63 high horse car? Does anyone have part numbers if they do?

I ordered a clutch from one of the corvette parts places and it looks nothing like the clutch that came out of the car.

Thanks for the help

Richie

Richie-----


The GM pressure plate assembly, friction disc, and flywheel for ALL 63-67 small blocks are long since GM-discontinued. A clutch release bearing is still available but it's just a Bower/BCA, self-centering style piece in a GM box.

[Stuart F.]

Re: 1963 fuelie clutch

I'm still using my original Diaphragm clutch in my L-76 63 w/ 44.5k miles. I don't baby it, though I don't power shift so much anymore as my leg isn't up to it. I used to use 3 finger coil spring B&B clutches back in the day until I got smart. I decided after failing so many of those from using white springs (broken pivot pins), bending up my linkages and watching my dash board torque when I pushed in the clutch, I would go with adhesion through surfaces instead of pressure. I got several 11" truck discs that had a lot of metal impregnation and then ground a swirl pattern in my 11" pressure plate and flywheel. That clutch lasted a whole season and I could "toe" power shift. I haven't used anything else since, and with my 63, I have not had to.